A forum for people who suffer from chronic or persistent coughs to share ideas... these don't have any sort of official approval so you try any of them out at your own risk. I've consigned some of the more unusual ones I received to the Oddities bin on the left. I've also listed very simple remedies separately. If you're a sufferer, good luck, and please report back by commenting on the particular posting if you find success. Or just comment to the most recent posting and I will pick it up.

Monday, December 1, 2014

My latest news from Wythenshawe Hospital

Thanks for the interest Kate ... I had a long, detailed discussion with my specialist, Prof.Jaclyn Smith, who as always was very understanding. At my request I'm going to try morphine sulphate again - it's the only thing really that has helped much in the past, but she is also keen that I should combine that with giving another chance to the therapy propounded by the Speech and Language Therapist (they are now offering it at Wythenshawe instead of the long journey for me to Preston), which is much to do with breath control, sipping water, and cough suppression. As a side benefit she thought it might help my singing performance too!

In addition to that, after I've undergone some lung function tests, she wants to try me on a new type of inhaler because asthma might have developed as a contributing factor to my cough problem.
(There was also mention of a drug called Gabapentin, which I think has been tried with me in the past, but it might be worth considering again because of refinements in its use).

So all in all I felt at least encouraged that I had a direction to go in, and something to work on, to give me some hope of getting rid of this plague of a condition. Prof.Smith does have a calm, reassuring manner.

She also mentioned to me a drug treatment that has been recently trialled which is yielding promising results - around three-quarters of the people who took part reported quite an improvement with their cough. Downside though is that it causes a loss in the sensation of taste, which some people found an unacceptable consequence. There's much more detail on this in the November 25 edition of The Lancet, which is available online. Find the website, Respiratory section, and do a search for refractory cough which is the term (new to me) that they now use to describe this type of persistent/chronic condition. I might be eligible for a later phase of that drug trial if the other treatments/therapies don't produce results.

7 comments:

caroline
said...

Hi Nick thanks for posting an update , like you i have suffered with a cough for years , mine is about 6 or 7 I have lost count ! I have had loads of tests myself with a lung / chronic cough specialist , they have been inconclusive . the only thong they could find is that I have non specific dysmotility of the oesophagus , which they think causes my cough . I am on Domperidone twice a day which seems to help a bit , Caroline x

I have had my cough for about 3 years and have just found the Daily Mail article about your chronic cough from 2007. I've had basic medical investigations - chest X-ray and spirometry tests which showed nothing abnormal, although my breaths were very variable with the latter. I have chosen not to go down the route of further investigation, because although i absolutely agree the problem is physical, i also believe the mind/body link is undeniable. Although i have tried and will continue to try remedies for the physical symptoms i hold the belief that various emotional experiences, which for a variety of reasons cannot be adequately processed are stored in or expressed through the body in the form of physical symptoms. There is a body (no pun intended) of evidence for this. i am working on this front. but in the meantime the Cisca salt pipe (may be obtained from Amazon) has given me a lot of relief. i will continue to follow your blog. Thank you. D

Hi. I am new to this site and its nice to know I am not the only person in this world to be plagued by a chronic (unbearable at times) cough. Its been 18 years so far! Tried every trick in the book, spent money on therapies, attended respiratory and have had every test going. Now going to the cough clinic at Wythenshaw, but not getting anywhere as yet. Its so upsetting at times and a big load to carry. I am a very happy and healthy woman, but just afflicted with this cough. I agree with Anonymous in the last comment, that it is linked with various emotional experiences and I still continue to work on this. I will keep reading your posts, its good to share on this mysterious affliction. Many Thanks, S.

The morphine seems to be working for me, though for the past 3 weeks I've been plagued by a cold and chest cough which is masking my underlying condition. But certainly, for the first two weeks of taking the morphine I slept much better, which is a blessed relief in itself, and I think my cough eased off a little too. Not gone by any means, but not as bad. Once I get rid of the cold thoroughly I can get back to monitoring the cough condition properly and will report back.Meantime, I've also had a first assessment with the Speech and Language Therapist at Wythenshawe - waiting for a call to start the therapy, which I will view with a bit more of an open mind than last time.Thanks to Caroline, D and S for postings - no, you're not alone, though it has to be said I very rarely encounter people with the same problem ... except in the waiting room at Wyth!!! :)

Hi nick. I have written on here before as I have had my cough for 20 years or so now and like the other comment above, I am a happy healthy women. I said I'd let you know whether I was able to get morphine every 8 hours instead of the usual twice a day as for me it seems to run out at about that time. My doctor said no!! He will not give me any more so I'm on 10mg twice a day which is still a huge help but I still get a terrible cough first thing in the morning and off and on during the day. It still can be very debilitating and distressing to those that see me do it. Especially if it makes me gag. I still clear my throat constantly and would love to know if your speech/breathing therapy is working for you. I often try a breathing technique that I find online but none seem to really help. My doctor says I have been to the best specialists and had every test going and there is no solution. It's quite demoralising but I try to keep bright and cheerful and not let it get me down. I have tried to get fitter incase my fitness is not helping so now get up at 5:30am every morning and go for a 2.5 mile fast walk with my husband before we get ready for work and get the kids ready. After nearly 3 months it's not really helping and on the colder mornings I cough and splutter most of the time! Maybe I'm doing more harm than good but I'm also trying to sort out a painful back which seems worse when I'm in bed. Anyway if you get a chance, just let us know how the breathing thing is going. Many thanks. Kate

Nice to hear from you again Kate. I'm not sure about the breathing thing - it seemed to help a bit at first this time, but it's quite difficult to keep it going as a regular routine so I've slipped with that, and the cough has pretty much slipped back to how it was before. I'm just about to go on holiday for 10 days so am determined to re-read the notes and give another concentrated effort. Your early starts are a challenge, but hey, any exercise can't be a bad thing so I'd encourage you to keep going. We'll bloody conquer this thing one day!

Hey Nick!! My Mother has been suffering with dry cough from past 15 years. Doctors couldn't find anything. I find it pretty similar to what you have described about your cough. I'm gonna follow your blog about the updates. Thanks for taking this initiative and blogging your experiences. She's actually coughing at the moment as I'm typing this.

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About Me

I've had a cough for 18 years now, and have tried many, many things to get rid of it, without any lasting success. This blog is full of ideas that people have sent me after I appeared in the newspapers, and on radio and TV, talking about it a few years ago.

Cough jokes - because we need to keep a sense of humour!

...John was a clerk in a small drugstore but he was not much of a salesman. He could never find the item the customer wanted. Bob, the owner, had had about enough and warned John that the next sale he missed would be his last.

Just then a man came in coughing and he asked John for their best cough syrup. Try as he might John could not find the cough syrup. Remembering Bob's warning he sold the man a box of Ex-Lax and told him to take it all at once. The customer did as John said and then walked outside and leaned against a lamp post.

Bob had seen the whole thing and came over to ask John what had transpired. "He wanted something for his cough but I couldn't find the cough syrup. I substituted Ex-Lax and told him to take it all at once," John explained.

"Ex-Lax won't cure a cough," Bob shouted angrily.

"Sure it will," John said, pointing at the man leaning on the lamp post. "Look at him. He's afraid to cough!"

Next: not a joke, but these emails made me laugh on the Manchester Evening News website when the story first appeared:"I can help this man. I need his address. I have a electronic device which will surely help him to cure from this caugh. If anyone can give me his address, i can post the device for free. it can also help from various body pains including back pain." sadab, Dhaka, Bangladesh

"Thanks Sadab, they're known in the UK as cattle prods. Do send it to him though..."Mr.Manchester